Pivoted inner jaw pipe wrench



March s, 1949. 1.. B. JENSEN z,463,774

llw'll/ 1 Patented Mar. 8, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PIVOTEDINNER JAW PIPE WRENCH Levi Benjamin Jensen, Salt Lake City, UtahApplication April 18, 1945, Serial No. 588.910

1 claim. l

My invention relates to pipe wrenches and has for its object to providea new and highly efficient pipe wrench which will fit any of a multiplenumber of different sized pipes or will fit many different sized boltheads and nuts without any manual manipulation of changes.

A further object is to provide a pipe wrench which being built with thehead and handle in one piece with a pivotal mounted gripping blockmounted in the arc of the head will automatically grip upon the pipe ornut being engaged without any manual movement of the gripping block.

A still further object is to provide a self grasping and gripping wrenchwhich will be so1id in construction and which will easily grip orrelease from any pipe or nut which it has engaged.

A still further object is to provide an automatically adjusted quickgripping wrench adaptable for many sizes and which due to its structurewill be easily and quickly used and which will be very strong due to itsshape of handle and head.

These and other objects I accomplish with the device illustrated in theaccompanying drawings in which similar numerals and letters of referenceindicate like parts throughout the several views and as described in thespecification forming a part of this application and pointed out in theappended claim.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a face view of the wrench part of the handle being cut away.

Figure 2 is a Vertical section of Figur-e 1.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the complete wrench.

In the drawings I have shown the wrench as A, having a curved head orjaw B with the inner arc of the curved head formed as a work engagingjaw 5 with transverse teeth 6 adapted to grip upon a pipe or nut or thelike. The head B is in the shape of a half crescent set on the upper endof the body of the wrench with the body portion 'I the wider portion ofthe wrench and the wider portion of the half crescent joining the widerportion of the body and which body is then narrowed down to the handle.

The body of the wrench is extended on the front side to nearly Verticalalignment with the tip of the head B and is formed at this point with aboss 8 onto which the movable gripping jaw III is pivotally mounted. Thejaw III is provided with downwardly extended hinge places II and I I'fitting each side of the boss 8 and a pivot pin 13, is passed throughthe boss 8 and plates II and Il' to pivotally mount the gripping jaw l0to the body of the wrench. The gripping jaw III is formed with aVertical front wall and the top is formed in an arc the diameter ofwhich is less than that of the arc face carrying the teeth I2 and theteeth I2 are formed on this face opposed to the teeth 6 of the head B.Both sets of teeth are formed so that they will grip onto any articleplaced therebetween when the handle is rotated. The particular set ofthe teeth is not deemed essential they however being formed so that thelong slope of each set of teeth is opposed to the other set of teeth inthe opposite jaw. The back of the open face of the jaw B is formed withan elongated recess I'I therein with a hole IB bored therein in which aspring I9 is carried, the spring I9 normally engaging the back side ofthe jaw I0 to hold it forward as far as the lug III and the detent [6will permit. The lug H is formed on the jaw end and the detent IB isformed in the top of recess I5. The normal action of the spring I 9against the jaw 10 being to release any article held therein when thehandle is released by the operator.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

A wrench comprising a handle having a fixed arcuate head at one end,said head having a curved toothed jaw face extending inwardly anddownwardly with respect to one edge of said handle to form a workreceiving opening, there being a recess in the head at the inner end ofsaid jaw face intersecting said Opening, a detent forming a continuationof said jaw face extending into said recess at its upper end, a jawpivoted in said work receiving Opening adjacent said one edge of thehandle, said pivoted jaw having a curved jaw face toothed in an oppositedirection to said fixed jaw face and eccentric of said fixed jaw face,said jaw faces converging inwardly in said Opening, a lug portion at theinner end of said pivoted jaw seated in said recess and engageable withsaid detent to limit outward swinging of said pivoted jaw and a springseated in said recess and engaging said lug to normally urge the pivotedjaw to its outwardly extended position.

LEVI BENJAMIN JENSEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 160,415 Fulmer Mar. 2, 1875446.324 Carpenter Feb. 10, 1891 447,952 Keith Mar. 10, 1891 689,564Partille Dec. 24, 1901 796,822 Davis Aug. 8, 1905

